Back to Work

I have been meaning to write about this from a long time but was not getting time. In this blog I would like to share some of the tips and techniques I learnt during my job search journey. I feel that job search is challenging especially after a break.

Let me start by giving a list of things which I think are very important during job search.

• Research/ Update
• Personal Projects / Open Source
• Networking
• Resume
• Online Presence
• Interview Preparation
• Mindset

Let us dive deep into each of the points mentioned above. I believe the first thing in order to be successful in job search is knowing the kind of job you want. The next step would be to do a lot of research about that job profile. Some of the tools you can use is to checkout LinkedIn profiles of people with similar job titles, job listings and blogs etc. Once you are done with the research you should be having a pretty good idea about the skill set required for that particular job profile then you can update the missing skills. You can take online courses, certifications to fill in that gap

Now let us look into building your portfolio. I believe that your github profile is very important it speaks volumes about the quality of your work so make sure its in good shape with at least three projects with proper read me files. Some of the ways of building your GitHub is by doing some personal projects, open source projects and attending Hackathon’s . Volunteering and doing internships is also a good way to fill in that gap.

Now coming to networking I cannot stress the importance of it. As it gives you an edge over job seekers who are not networking. Connect with people by attending meetups, conferences and getting involved in organizations. The connections you make at these events will be very helpful when you need referrals. As 90% of the people get jobs through referrals. Many jobs are not even posted.

Now coming to online presence. Its very important that all your online profiles like LinkedIn and github represent you in the best possible light. It is even better if you are into writing articles or blogging about technology.

Your first impression once you apply for any role is the “Resume”. Make sure your resume is in good shape. The golden rule is to have a one page resume . I feel it is better to get it reviewed by career coach or your friends working in the industry. One more thing you can do is to see other people’s resume working at the same position you want.

If you do all the above mentioned things and are not prepared for the interview and everything will go in vain. So it is very important to do interview prep. There are many resources available online for interview prep. You can checkout books like Cracking the coding interview and websites like leetcode,hackerrank, glassdoor etc. The key to getting good at solving Algorithms is to practice, the more you practice the better you get at problem solving.

It is not just enough to solve Algorithms you also need to practice System Design questions too. Some good resources for System design questions are company engineering blogs, articles and books like “Grokking the System Design Interview”.

Another part of the interview prep which is often overlooked is preparing for the behavioral interview . Most companies have one round of this kind of interview. You can prepare for it by reading about the company’s culture, values and practicing some of the common questions asked.

Now coming to the last point its last but definitely not the least. Having the right mindset is very important you can be doing everything right but if you do not have self belief and positive mental attitude, I doubt that you will succeed. To have a positive mindset listen to motivational Ted Talks, read self improvement and success books .

I know job search can be challenging but I am sure that if you follow all the above pointers and be consistent there is nothing that can stop you from getting that dream job.